The four dioceses (Kansas, Nebraska, West Missouri and Western Kansas) that partner together in Bishop Kemper School for Ministry are placing increased emphasis on diversity training.

Last summer BKSM and the Diocese of Nebraska co-sponsored an event in Omaha led by Father Ernesto Medina. Next week Professor William Kondrath, retired from Episcopal Divinity School, will offer sessions stretching over two days at the beginning of Kansas’ Diocesan Convention. Beginning next year, BKSM will regularly offer a diversity course. All persons on the presbyteral and diaconal tracks must take it. We will also make it available to all lay leaders and ministers.

Understandably, attention to these issues make some persons quite uncomfortable. This training, required by the canons of the Episcopal Church, is officially called “Anti-Racism” education. Most of us think that we are certainly not racists. So why do we have to fulfill yet one more mandatory course? All of us have plenty to do already!

Workshops must address the issues of race that have plagued the US for far too long. Recent events, most notably in Ferguson, MO, have demonstrated that we cannot ignore the problems. These classes, however, address far more than race. Attention is paid to gender, sexual orientation, age, economic status, and different abilities and accessibility for all.

Participants learn how to appreciate and relate to any persons different from us.

We have long declared that “the Episcopal Church welcomes you!” In our daily office we recite the words of Canticle 18, which declare that “from every family, language, people and nation” our Lord Jesus has created one people to serve God. In our baptismal covenant we pledge to “respect the dignity of every human being.” I believe that we really do mean what we say. And yet fewer than 15% of Episcopalians represent persons from non-European backgrounds. Sadly, various persons still find access to our churches difficult.

Clearly we need more than right feelings and good intentions.

Diversity training aims to equip us to more fully realize our vision. We learn specific skills, like listening and self-awareness, that further our spiritual growth and our sensitivity to persons from many backgrounds. We don’t aim to blame or shame. No one can change the past. As Christians, as Paul said, ours is an upward call. We always press forward (Philippians 3: 12-14). We do not neglect those already in the church, but seek to warmly embrace new persons representing all the rich variety of the human family. Anglicans don’t think in “either/or” terms! We embrace “both/and.” There is plenty of room for everyone in our parishes. And if we get crowded, we’ll plant new ones!

In everything we do at BKSM, we find inspiration in the life and work of Bishop Jackson Kemper. Before the plains wars were finally behind us, he boldly planted the church among the native peoples of the American Midwest. His vision included all people in God’s loving embrace. We commit ourselves to living out his spirit today. We say that our school is about theological education for all. And we really do mean ALL!

As dean of Bishop Kemper School for Ministry I get to visit parishes all over our four sponsoring Episcopal dioceses, and in the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as well. Several times now I have preached and presided in congregations founded by our patron saint, Bishop Jackson Kemper. I am sure grateful that we chose to name ourselves after him!

When Bishop Kemper became the missionary bishop of the West--of the great outdoors, as some joked!--some surely must have told him that he didn't have enough money or personnel and had no way of knowing what he was getting into in that vast unknown world. But Bishop Kemper felt called, he trusted in God, and so he just got on his horse and rode. Thanks to his faith and courage the Episcopal Church was well established in many a state, and the Anglican heritage became firmly rooted throughout the Midwest.

Our experience at BKSM is strikingly similar. Well, we have more resources than the good bishop did, counting on a splendid faculty gathered from our three state area. Yet compared to many theological schools, we are cash poor. And in a whole new era for theological education, we certainly cannot predict everything that will happen to us! I did not expect us to find so much common ground with our Lutheran partners so soon. I did not anticipate so many conversations about collaboration with other formation programs all across the US. I did not expect the rapid growth of the number of Latino congregations in this part of the world, placing very different educational demands on us.

Like Bishop Kemper, at BKSM we try to be faithful and to trust in God. We are determined to support the mission of the church in this exciting new age every way we can. Like Bishop Kemper, we find good co-workers everywhere. The Spirit is at work!

So let's get on the horse and ride!

In your specific context, what does this mean for you? I'd love to hear from you!

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﻿﻿The Bishop Kemper School for Ministry is a collaborative venture of the Episcopal Dioceses of Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas.It offers classes and programs to educate people for church leadership in both lay and ordained vocations.